Star Scouts (Star Scouts #1) – Mike Lawrence

Star Scouts by Mike Lawrence

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Raincoast Books
Published: 2017
Publisher: First Second
Recommended Age: 8+
Pacing: Normal
Genres & Themes: Middle Grade, Graphic Novel, Science Fiction, Humor, Friendship

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Avani is the new kid in town, and she’s not happy about it. Everyone in school thinks she’s weird, especially the girls in her Flower Scouts troop. Is it so weird to think scouting should be about fun and adventure, not about makeovers and boys, boys, boys? But everything changes when Avani is “accidentally” abducted by a spunky alien named Mabel. Mabel is a scout too—a Star Scout. Collecting alien specimens (like Avani) goes with the territory, along with teleportation and jetpack racing. Avani might be weird, but in the Star Scouts she fits right in. If she can just survive Camp Andromeda, and keep her dad from discovering that she’s left planet Earth, she’s in for the adventure of a lifetime.

Monsters Beware! (Chronicles of Claudette #3)

Monsters Beware! by Jorge Aguirre

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Raincoast Books
Published: March 13th, 2018
Publisher: First Second
Recommended Age: 8+
Pacing: Normal
Genres & Themes: Middle Grade, Graphic Novel, Fantasy, Humor, Adventure, Dragons

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In Monsters Beware!, the third and final book of the Claudette graphic novel series, Claudette is put to the ultimate test. With her honor on the line will she learn that there’s more to a fight than just winning?

Pop! – Jason Carter Eaton

Pop! by Jason Carter Eaton

My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Received: Raincoast Books
Published: July 3rd, 2018
Publisher: First Second
Genres & Themes: Picture Books, Children’s Books, Fantasy

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A quiet afternoon of blowing bubbles and popping them turns into a Planes, Trains, & Automobiles, (and more)-style adventure, as our young protagonist Dewey struggles to pop that one bubble…The Bubble That Got Away.

One Day a Dot: The Story of You, the Universe, and Everything

One Day a Dot: The Story of You, the Universe, and Everything by Ian Lendler

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: Raincoast Books
Published: April 17th, 2018
Publisher: First Second
Genres & Themes: Picture Books, Children’s Books, Science, Non Fiction, Evolution

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One Day a Dot is a beautiful and vibrant picture book that uses the visual motif of circles as to guide young readers through the stages of life on Earth.

Girls of Paper and Fire – Natasha Ngan

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: Hachette Book Group Canada
Published: November 6th, 2018
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson Books
Recommended Age: 14+
Pacing: Fast
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Violence, LGBTQIA+, Sex, Power

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In this lush fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most oppressed class in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards still haunts her. Now, the guards are back, and this time it’s Lei they’re after–the girl whose golden eyes have piqued the king’s interest. Over weeks of training in the opulent but stifling palace, Lei and eight other girls learn the skills and charm that befit being a king’s consort. But Lei isn’t content to watch her fate consume her. Instead, she does the unthinkable–she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens the very foundation of Ikhara, and Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide just how far she’s willing to go for justice and revenge.